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Stork Ministry (Wiltshire)
Renly Stork formed the '''Stork Ministry '''on March 9, 3013 following the successful motion of no confidence in incumbent Prime Minister Edward Jellico's Conservative government and the subsequent formation of a Socialist/Liberal coalition. The Stork Ministry was the first Socialist Ministry since that of Thomas Shore and so was a big shift for many in the civil service. Stork began immediately with plans for a new social safety net and began drawing up plans for a national insurance system. Though this ministry was unsuccessful in achieving these goals, they were the bedrock of the work of Frank Eddington's First Eddington Ministry (Wiltshire). The Stork Ministry was short lived, however, as the Liberal Alliance (which was propping up Stork's government) had a bump in the polls and demanded an early General Election. This led to the May 3013 General Election where the Conservatives increased their numbers of seats and was able to form another minority government. History and Formation The formation of this government is much of the story of the 3013 vote of no confidence in the Jellico Ministry. The government's inability to command a majority, due to the Conservatives' poor performance in the January 3013 Wiltshire General Election, left an opening for Leader of the Opposition Renly Stork. Stork was Leader of the Socialist Party and was elected Leader based on a promise to "Bring down Jellico". That promise led to Stork attempting on multiple occasions to bring across Liberal Alliance support to the Socialists. This was mostly futile until March 3013. In March, the Liberal Alliance Party demanded that there be Liberal representation in cabinet. This is not, normally, a large request. However, this would also be on the condition that the Liberals not need to support the government in every vote (as would be the case in a coalition). Prime Minister Jellico refused and so the Liberal Alliance pulled their support from the government. Though Jellico attempted to continue as a minority administration, Stork called a vote on no confidence in the government (the first in history). This vote was successful - as Liberals voted against Jellico. The rationale behind the Liberals voting against the Jellico government was that they wanted a new Conservative Leader to work with. This vote of no confidence would have forced Jellico's resignation and a new Conservative Prime Minister would have been easier to work with (for the Liberals). However, this did not come to see the light of day as Socialist Leader Renly Stork invited them to form a joint government with proportional party representation in cabinet. This was an opportunity the Liberal Alliance could not refuse (and something the Conservatives would never have given into) and so they did not force an election but voted in install Stork as Prime Minister, forming the Stork Ministry. Once installed, Prime Minister Stork introduced four pieces of legislation (the Health Act, the Social Security and Workers Rights Act, the Devolution Act and the Property Management and Ownership Re-organisation Act). Three of the four of these acts failed to pass (the Social Security and Worker's Rights Act being passed with a majority of 1). This put Stork in an incredibly weak position. Furthermore, a number of polls suggested that the Liberal Alliance would do particularly well in a General Election and so they forced the government to call one - on a joint platform with the Socialists. This backfired, however, as the Conservative Party (now under the leadership of Martin Banks) increased their seat numbers and was able to form a minority Conservative government. There wouldn't be another Socialist government until Frank Eddington in 3016. Cabinet *The Minister for Utilities was an unofficial title used by Pete Avantine and Frank Eddington. These ministers held the ministerial positions of Minister for Food, Minister for Health, Minister for Housing and Minister for Education concurrently. This continued until the premiership of Frank Eddington when he separated the ministries once again.